Flu season turning out to be harsh one

1:36 AM,
Jan. 9, 2013

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For the fourth week in a row, the proportion of people seeing health care providers for flulike illness is above the national baseline, and jumped from 2.8 percent to 5.6 percent in that time, according to the CDC in Atlanta. Last season's proportion peaked at 2.2 percent, the CDC reports.

Twenty-nine states plus New York City are now reporting high flulike activity, up from 16 states the week before, the CDC said. Forty-one states reported in the last week of December that flulike activity was widespread geographically, with that number up from 31 states the week before, according to the CDC.